Micah 5:9

Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

Ver. 9. Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine adversaries] q.d. Adversaries thou shalt be sure of, O my Church, but thou shalt have the better of them. Thou shalt keep footing still under the standard of the cross, and prevail, Sub militia crucis (Calv.). The mountain of the house of the Lord shall overtop all other mountains of worldly power, Micah 4:1. It shall be as that mountain not far from Arbela (where the empire of the world was won and lost in one day), called Nicatorium by Alexander the Great, as a constant trophy of that famous victory he there got over Darius, νικατοριον ορος (Strabo). As she is highest in the favour of God, so she shall be highest in herself; and her enemies shall be found liars unto her. Her hand shall be lifted up, and fall very heavily upon her adversaries: if not sooner, yet at utmost at the resurrection. The upright shall have dominion over them in that morning, Psalms 49:14, the Church shall shine as the sun in his strength, when her enemies shall be in that place that is fittest for them, even the lowest place, the footstool of Christ. Meanwhile she conquereth then when she is conquered (as Christ overcame as well by patience as by power), and is sure not to be shivered though shaken, not to be drowned though doused over head and ears in the waters of affliction.

“ Niteris incassum Christi submergere navem:

Fluctuat, at nunquam mergitur illa ratis. ”

That ship may be tossed, saith one, not shipwrecked, whereof Christ is the pilot, the Scripture the compass, the promise the tacklings, hope the anchor, faith the cable, the Holy Ghost the winds, and holy affections the sails, filled with heavenly graces. Such a soul sails safely, and will neither fall upon the soft sands of presumption nor hard rocks of despair.